Now. I was not a Lou fan before he was hired. He did an outstanding job in 2007 and 2008, but has seemed somnolent and distracted this year. If he's going to return in 2010, he'd better start getting off his butt and managing the Cubs the way he did the last two years.

A good example of that sleepwalking was his decision to yank Tom Gorzelanny in Thursday's game against the Dodgers with only 82 pitches on his arm, for a pinch-hitter (Aaron Miles) who is hitting .048 in August. Miles promptly grounded out to second, ending the inning, and then the Cubs bullpen intervened for the Dodgers, ultimately giving up a grand slam to Russell Martin. So, yay for the Dodgers, but Piniella's best days as a manager appear to be behind him.